Honest, Practical, Style Advice

How to make your wardrobe more sustainable

How to make your wardrobe more sustainable…

In fashion, ‘sustainability’ has become a fashionable term. However, I am not going to be banging on about buying more garments that come from a sustainable source. By all means explore this option but garments that are truly sustainable tend to come with an economically unsustainable price tag. We should all be encouraging brands to tell us more about how they manufacture their garments and what sources they use, but what we need to be better at is asking ourselves the right questions before we make that sustainable purchase in the first place.

 

This starts with knowing your wardrobe – what gaps you’ve got, what works well, what doesn’t and why. This way at least, when you start to think about the new season kicking in you can be more focused on what you really need and why. You might surprise yourself and re-discover items you’d forgotten about. ‘Shopping’ in your wardrobe should be your starting place before hitting the shops. You don’t want to buy something only to get home to discover you’ve already got something similar.

 

Shopping effectively for the ‘right’ clothes requires a bit of planning. Just like when you go food shopping – you will think about what you’re going to cook, check your fridge and pantry before heading to the supermarket. Well, clothes shopping shouldn’t be any different.

 

So firstly, review what you’ve got. If you haven’t done this for sometime, you’ll ideally want to find a couple of hours when you’re not going to be disturbed because you will need to try lots of options out in front of your mirror (or honest friend).

 

Secondly, when you’ve identified your ‘gaps’, what you need and why, make a ‘shopping list’, it will make the shopping process a whole lot easier. There is so much variety, cuts, shapes and sizes in fashion retail that this can help you more effectively filter through the many bedazzling options laid out to tempt you.

 

Finally, when you start shopping and see something you like, you then need to ask yourself:

 

  • Why do I like it and want to buy it?
  • Do I think I’ll wear it 30 times? That’s when you truly benefit from effective cost per wear.
  • What will it go with and how am I going to wear and accessorise it?
  • When will I wear it?

 

Let me know how this works for you and share any tips that you have found worked for you.

 

Remember – Love it madly, need it badly or put it back!

 

As always, if you need any help, don’t hesitate to get in touch

 

And you’ll be able to listen to me tomorrow (4/9/18) on Helen Blaby’s Radio Northampton lunchtime show at 1:05pm

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© Copyright Lesley Clarke 2017